Voice
by Kiseki Lin
Summary: Sanzo stops hearing Goku's voice calling out for him, and he makes some new revelations regarding himself and Goku. Challenge Fic for Rowena's One Thousand Words or Less Challenge for June.


_**Voice**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Sanzo, Goku, and anything or anyone else dealing with canon in Saiyuki.

Author's Note: This was made as a challenge for Rowena's (Ro-onni), One Thousand Words or Less Challenge for June.

* * *

Sanzo felt his heart skip a beat as he ceased to hear Goku's voice calling for him. Sanzo's eyes darted around, trying to find his missing monkey. Homura's laughter echoed in his ears, taunting him, reminding him that he was after Goku himself. Sanzo gritted his teeth, and turned on his heel, walking out of the inn.

Walking through the forest, Sanzo thought of Hakkai and Gojyo. Both immediately set out a search for Goku through the rain, as he, instead, brooded, remembering his master's death on that raining day.

Split, splat! Split, splat! The irritating sound of rain was getting to Sanzo. He knew he had to bear it if he wanted to find Goku. "Where is that damn monkey?" Sanzo almost grinned at the thought that he might be losing it, talking to himself in the rain.

Trying hard to listen for Goku's voice, he let loose a growl, as he still couldn't hear what was blasting his mind hours before it stopped abruptly. Sanzo continued on the path, trusting his instincts to find where Goku could be. Sanzo regretted ever getting angry with Goku when he knew Homura was out there; ready to take Goku away from him.

Voices heard up ahead alerted Sanzo that he was close, and without apparent knowledge, Sanzo's pace sped up.

"Sanzo doesn't care about you. If he did, he would be here with Tenpou and Kenren, now wouldn't he, Goku?" Homura's voice spoke out. Sanzo had to stop a shout that threatened to erupt. Instead, he forced himself to listen to what Goku's reply. "He would listen and be kinder to you as well. Why don't you join me?"

"I know that he might think of me as a stupid monkey, but Hakkai once told me that he never carries around trash. And yet, I've been with Sanzo for years and he never once told me to leave!"

Sanzo moved towards the shadows, where no one could see him. He knew that Homura, Shien, and Zenon knew he was here as all three's pair of eyes gave him a quick glance. It was obvious that Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku didn't notice him.

"Well, how about we ask him? It seems that he just showed up." Homura's cockiness was grating on Sanzo's last nerves. Just seeing Homura smirk made Sanzo want to kill him more than ever.

"Sanzo!" Three voices chorused in unison. Yet, Sanzo only paid attention to one, Goku, who sat snug in a tree.

Purple eyes clashed with golden ones. Golden eyes pleading for him to reassure that he was still wanted. Sanzo tried hard to listen for Goku's voice in his mind, yet he could no longer hear it. Sanzo doubted that he'd even hear it ever again. As he stared right into Goku's eyes, he kept quiet even though he wanted to scold the monkey for going off on his own.

Hurt, Sanzo noticed, flashed in Goku's eyes when he didn't say anything. He watched as Goku jumped down, landing in front of him, tears glistening at the corner of his eyes. "If you didn't want me in the first place, you should've just left me sealed. If I knew that it would hurt so bad being here, I would've never left there in the first place!"

Sanzo took several steps forward before he was less than a foot away from Goku. He raised his hand before Goku's bowed head, and placed it right on it. "If I didn't want you, I would've ditched you a long time ago and you know that. So why do you need to think about why you're still with me?"

Goku's head snapped up, hope flashing in his eyes. Sanzo managed to smile for a split second before it was gone. Satisfaction ran through him as Sanzo noticed Homura, Shien, and Zenon teleported away, in apparent defeat. "Let's go!"

"Well, we're soaking wet, let's hurry and get to that inn." Hakkai led the way back; his smile that was gone from his face as he battled with Shien was back.

"Alright, time to talk with that hot innkeeper!" Gojyo grinned, whistling in blatant delight.

"Hey, wait for me!" Goku ran to catch up with the other two, back to his normal self.

Sanzo leisurely took his time. The rain slowly went away at every step he took. Sanzo watched Goku run around like a headless chicken blubbering excitedly with a heavy heart. He knew the moment that he and Goku shared minutes before, signalized a distance between the two that he wasn't aware of. And he never knew, how painful being unable to hear Goku's voice in his mind truly was.

* * *

I forgot which episode that this was based on, but if it's familiar, it's from one of the episodes from the Homura saga.

I realized that Sanzo was OOC in this, and I tried to portray him losing the ability of hearing Goku's voice in his mind and his reaction and feelings to it. I tried to make him a little more sentimental instead of his total badass attitude as well. Along with making him a bit more aware of how much hurt he can put Goku through. It's all subtle, but I hope it's just enough to portray him as that.


End file.
